A Tale of Rattles, Drums, and Hallucinations

In the Shamanic work that I do, one of the first things I learned from my teacher was to shake a rattle. No, not like an infant’s rattle (though I imagine you could use one, if you needed a rattle real quick). Something more like this. You take a rattle that makes the right kind of sound you’re looking for, and shake it until you start seeing things.

Okay. It’s a little more complicated than that.

When a healer is shaking a rattle (or drumming), they usually do so in an even beat, while channelling earth energy through their tool. The repetitive nature of the sound is to lull your mind into a different state (usually Theta brainwave state) to access more subconscious levels of the brain, as well as interact with spirits. It’s usually referred to as Shamanic journeywork. It’s a great healing tool, as well as a way to access knowledge not easily accessible to our conscious self.

I had heard of using sound as a way to access a sort of trance state before I took on my Shamanic apprenticeship, but I had only heard of people using drums. When I met my teacher, Adhi, I was surprised to learn that she used rattles more often. Her teachers had taught her that drums were for putting a person back in the body, while rattles were better suited for journeywork. Not that drums can’t have the same results, it’s just the two different tools have very different energy. So, I began to practice with what I found in my house's pile of musical instruments. I remember the first time I brought the tools that I had been using to Adhi’s. She did her best not to laugh at the cheap maracas that I had found. They were quite ridiculous looking, but they did the trick.

My first real rattle was the one I made on Assateague Island with Adhi and a handful of other participants. I was looking for a deep sound. What I made had a sound reminiscent of a box of quarters. Again, it did the trick, but it was not soothing. Eventually, I decided it was time to make another rattle with a more gentle sound.

I began with a goat rawhide Adhi had gifted me. I made offerings to the spirits in the water that the rawhide soaked in. I went to my Burden Tree, another part of my Shaman work. She’s a maple tree that is over one hundred years old that I work with to balance myself and connect to nature. She had lost a small limb, from which I cut, shaped, and sanded a handle. I stitched my rattle head from the now pliable rawhide. Once that was fully formed and dried, I poured kale seeds from a second year plant that I had grown in my garden. I sealed them together, tying them with the four colors I use to represent the four elements. It had a great, gentle sound. I loved it!

Within a week, I accidentally dropped it and stepped on it.

While still sounding great, it has a “unique” look. The beat up look has yet to discourage me in its use in healing work. It’s one of my favorite go to tools, unless I need to use a tool to move out blockages or dense energy from a client. Then, I resort to my loud sea rattle from Assateague.

Usually, journeywork is done by a client while the practitioner rattles or drums. When I do my daily rattling practice, I am aiming to go deep enough that I do see things that I can’t normally see. It’s been years of practice, and I just recently started seeing things while my eyes are open. When I have a client on the table, I can also use my rattle as a way to move energy. While I can (and have) done energy work without tools like a rattle, it does make the process easier.

And that is my rattling practice. If you ever have a session with me and you hear me break out my rattle, now you know what I’m doing.

Have a beautiful week. Stay warm.

-The Green Mountain Mage